HELPING HAND FOR BLUES (From Warrington Guardian)

HELPING HAND FOR BLUES

WINSFORD United are gradually getting the help they need to make sure they have a squad of 14 players available for their matches.

Steve Aspinall, due to have a hernia operation this week, could be out for the rest of the season and a similar injury to David Clegg is pushing resources to the limit.

But Tony Jones and Andy Bridge both came to Barton Stadium to join the depleted ranks for the match with Lancaster City on Saturday.

After struggling to get three players on the bench in recent weeks and only having ten fully fit for last week's trip to Worksop, the Blues need this type of backing to cover any more injury flare-ups and suspensions.

But despite the sales of Andy Oakes and Nathan Peel in the last month, there is unlikely to be any permanent additons to the squad in the near future.

"We're very limited to what we can do with signing players and offering them certain things," said assistant manager Steve Shaughnessy.

"But there's been no problems in getting players to come down here and help us out, we just need to make sure we have the right type of people.

"Andy and Tony are here on the understanding that they will help us out if we need them. It's hard for us to replace people who are out, but it's better to be having these problems near the top of the league than at the bottom."

Manager Dalton Steele has had to use players carrying injuries to ensure a full team turn out for United and even midfielder Aspinall played 45 minutes on the weekend before his operation.

Winsford's 1-0 victory was their first at Barton Stadium since September, lifting them to fifth in the UniBond Premier table, and Shaughnessy hopes it can trigger off a run of results, starting with another home clash, against Frickley Athletic on Saturday.

He said: "We still have a good spirit. We know the tight situation and it doesn't affect us, we've just been going through one of those bad patches every team gets.

"We'll have problems if we have any more major injuries to key players. That will put us back so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

"The main thing against Lancaster was geting the three points and that should stand us in good stead for Saturday's game."

Colin Lambert will be back from suspension, but injuries could sideline Clegg and Darren Heesom.

TWO important dates are coming up for Winsford United in the next two months.

The club's annual general meeting for shareholders takes place on Monday, February 15, at 7.30pm.

Then, on Friday, March 5, Dave 'Harry' Bassett will be the special guest at Winsford United's annual Sportsman's Dinner at the Civic Hall,

The evnt starts at 7.30pm and also features comedian Steve Tandy. Tickets are £25 inclusive of a five course meal.

They can be obtained by calling the club on (01606) 593021 and AGM enquiries can be made by calling Denise Came on the same number.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.